VEON, the Amsterdam-headquartered company that operated the Beeline brand in the CIS member nations, announced on April 5 that its mobile services subsidiary in Tajikistan has been bought by ZET Mobile Limited.

The Beeline brand is to be retained, as required in the sale agreement.

According to press release issued by VEON, divestment of the Beeline is part of company’s strategy on optimization of its telecommunications asset portfolio and withdrawal from markets, where its business is small.

No specific details on the transaction have been disclosed.

Meanwhile, a source at Beeline Tajikistan sys the company is not going to leave Tajikistan’s market.

“The Beeline brand is to be retained in Tajikistan. Currently, a transition period is under way. All employees of the company in Tajikistan are still working in a customary regime,” the source said.

He further added that the company director-general was expected to arrive in Dushanbe in the near future.

However, VEON is not the first international telecommunications to exit Tajikistan’s market. Last year, Sweden-based mobile phone company TeliaSonera sold its 60 percent stake in Tcell to the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), giving the latter whole control over the company.

Like other mobile companies operating in Tajikistan, Beeline has been on the receiving end of some highly aggressive complaints from the Tajik tax authorities.